Education Commission of the States Names New President

Education Commission of the States has announced that Jeremy Anderson will be taking over as the group’s next president. Making the announcement was Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who said that Anderson was best positioned to realize the group’s goals of a stronger American education system by fostering cooperation between people working on solving the most important issues facing educators today.

ECS bills itself as a non-partisan national organization that aims to work directly with lawmakers and anyone shaping education policy to provide advice and consult on education initiatives, as well as providing an opportunity for policymakers from anywhere in the country to learn from the experience of their peers. The group is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Anderson’s background in healthcare and education policy should serve him well in his new post. Over the last two decades he has gained public policy experience in Washington, DC by working with Congressmen as well as with representatives of many state governments, governors and state legislators. He has also worked with members of the National Governors Association and with the Education Division of Standard and Poor’s on education policy design initiatives.

He served as a long-time Director of Policy and Governmental Affairs in the administration of former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, offering education policy guidance when Sebelius herself served as the head of ECS. During that time, he worked to bring bipartisan support to a Kansas education funding bill whose passage helped avert a shutdown of state’s K-12 system.

Anderson succeeds Roger Sampson, who has served as the ECS president since 2007. “Roger Sampson guided ECS through some difficult times and the organization came through stronger than ever. The Executive Committee is thankful for his steady leadership over the last five years,” said North Dakota Representative Rae Ann Kelsch, who is the ECS Vice Chair and headed up the search committee. “After conducting a comprehensive, nationwide search, we believe Mr. Anderson is the right person to lead ECS into a new era.”

Anderson will take up his duties as President – the eight in ECS’s 47-year history – on December 1st of this year.

“We are at the beginning of a major transformation in education in America. While ECS as a strong history of creating consensus-building opportunities for education leaders, now is the time for ECS to strategically engage in additional education conversations and issues,” said Anderson. “From Common Core to early childhood, from college readiness to preparing America for the next wave of high-skilled, highwage professionals, ECS will be at the forefront of those discussions to enlighten, equip, and engage key education leaders throughout the United States.”